Monday March 20 9:42 AM ET Explorers Isolated by Iridium Phone Collapse
OSLO (Reuters) - Two Norwegians trekking across the Arctic via the North Pole face isolation with the collapse of the $5 billion Iridium satellite telephone network, a
spokesman said Monday.
Rune Gjeldnes and Torry Larsen, trying to become the first people to ski from Russia to Canada via the North Pole hauling sledges, will be unable to talk to the outside
world when the Iridium satellites fall from orbit.
``They're prepared to be cut off. They're in a good mood,' Norwegian expedition spokesman Gunnar Vetlejord said, adding they had previously crossed Greenland with
no phone.
Iridium LLC failed to find a rescuer from bankruptcy on Friday. Its 66 satellites will burn up when they fall from orbit. A French rower trying to cross the Pacific, Jo
Le Guen, is also among those cut off, organizers said Saturday.
``The main disadvantage will be that we can't tell them about the weather or ice conditions based on satellite photographs,' Vetlejord said. ``And we can't give them
news, encouragement or pass on questions from home.'
The two Norwegians set out from northern Siberia on February 16 and aim to pass the North Pole at the end of April and reach Ward Hunt Island in Canada in June.
The still have an emergency beacon to transmit their position, but cannot receive any data.
Vetlejord told Reuters that organizers had hoped to use the phones, for instance, to tell the pair to change course when satellite photographs showed big gaps in the ice.
With no warning system, the two may have to make bigger detours.
One advantage of the collapse of the network was that the two would be able to throw away phones and batteries, weighing several kilos (lbs), from their heavy
sledges. |
